Billfold safety attachment



H. E. STONEBRAKER 3,032,088

BILLFOLD SAFETY ATTACHMENT May 1, 1962 Filed July 6, 1959 Fig.

Fig. 2

INVENTOR.

United States Patent 3,032,088 BILLFOLD SAFETY ATTACHMENT Harold E. Stonebraker, 607 Wilder Bldg., 8 Exchange St., Rochester, N.Y. Filed July 6, 1959, Ser. No. 825,102 3 Claims. (Cl. 150-47) This invention relates to a billfold safety attachment and relates more particularly to a device that is readily positionable in a billfold and functions to secure the billfold in the pocket against accidental loss or theft.

Devices designed for this purpose have been proposed but are objectionable because of difficulty in normal removal of the billfold, or tearing or damaging the pocket when removing the billfold, excessive cost of manufacture, or difficulty in operation, and it is a further purpose of the invention to provide a device that is dependable and efficient, and will successfuly lock a billfold in a pocket without in any way damaging the pocket, or requiring a difficult operation.

Another purpose of the invention is to afford a construction that when inserted into a billfold permits readily and quickly positioning the billfold in the pocket and easily removing the billfold when desired.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device constructed in one piece of plastic or other suitable resilient material which when in the pocket, lies flat and prevents accidental or unintentional movement of the billfold, and can easily be folded or bent sufliciently from its normal position to permit inserting the billfold in the pocket or removing it quickly when desired.

Still an additional purpose of the invention is to provide a construction that can be manufactured at a minimum cost, and for considerably less than structures made of metal and requiring several parts to be fabricated and assembled.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in the construction that will appear clearly from the following description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, the novel features being pointed out in the claims following the specification.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a safety or locking device constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an edge elevation of the same;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the device inserted in a conventional billfold, and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 3 with the billfold closed and the safety device in operative position, one of the locking portions being shown in dotted lines in the folded position which either or both of the locking portions can assume when being inserted into or removed from a pocket.

Referring more particularly to the drawings in which like reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the several views, the invention in its preferred form consists of a one-piece sheet or blank, constructed of plastic material, preferably polyethylene having a thickness of approximately or other suitable resilient plastic material capable of being bent or folded and reassuming its initial or normal position when released, and including a rectangular body portion 1 adapted to slide into and be retained by a pocket 2 such as forms a part of a conventional billfold, while 3 designates locking portions or arms extending laterally from the body portion 1 and defined by straight edgees 4, while 5 designates curved edges connecting the locking portions 4 with the straight edge 6 at the end of the body portion.

The body portion is approximately 3 /2" long from the edge 6 to the opposite edge 7 and approximately 2 /2" 3,032,088 Patented May 1, 1962 wide along the edge 7, while the locking portions 3 extend approximately 1%" along the edges 4 and are approxi-v mately 1 /2 wide between the edges 4 and 6.

The device is sufliciently resilient so that by folding or bending over one of the locking portions 3, the billfold can readily be inserted into the pocket, and when inserted, the fold of the billfold is at the bottom of the pocket with the locking portions or arms 3 extending laterally from the billfold. The straight edges 4 then extend under the upper limits of the pocket lining so that if the billfold moves upwardly in the pocket, the straight edges 4 will engage the lining of the pocket, limiting such upward movement, and eflectively preventing its unintentional or accidental removal.

To remove the billfold it is first necessary to reach in the pocket and fold over, as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 4, one or both of the locking portions 3, which permits the billfold to be easily removed from the pocket and when the locking portions are released, they immediately resume their normal flat relation to the body portion.

If the billfold contains no pocket to receive the body 1, the device can be positioned between the two folds of the billfold so as to occupy the position shown in FIG. 4, and will then lie loosely between the folded portions of the billfold and function in the same manner as described above.

While it is preferable to have the device removable from the billfold, it is within the province of the invention to secure the locking device to the billfold by stitching, riveting, or otherwise, and While the invention has been described with reference to the particular construction shown, it is susceptible of other modifications and departures, and this application is intended to cover such changes as may come within the purposes of the invention of the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A billfold safety attachment consisting of a single sheet of resilient plastic material of generally T-shape formation including a body positioned between the folds of a billfold and having parallel straight edges slidably and removably arranged in a pocket of a billfold with its edges in parallel relation to the sides of said pocket, and locking arms extending laterally from the body at one end on opposite sides and substantially beyond the sides of the billfold, said locking arms being curved along their outer edges from the outer ends of the locking arms to the end of the body, permitting ready insertion of the attachment into or removal from the pocket of a garment and having straight inner edges engaging the inner surface of the garment pocket and preventing removal of the billfold from the garment pocket except when one of the locking arms is bent upon itself, said plastic sheet being of such resilience as to be bendable without fracturing and acting to return to its normal shape when released.

2. A billfold safety attachment consisting of a single sheet of polyethylene which is resilient and readily bendable without fracturing, approximately in thickness and of generally T-shape formation including a body positioned between the folds of a billfold and having parallel straight edges slidably and removably arranged in a pocket of the billfold with its edges in parallel relation to the sides of said pocket, and arms extending laterally from the body at one end thereof and constituting locking portions extending laterally on opposite sides from the body and beyond its side edges and substantially beyond the sides of the billfold, said locking portions being curved along their outer edges from the outer ends of the locking portions to the end of the body permitting ready insertion of the attachment into or removal from the pocket of a garment, and the locking portions having straight inner edges perpendicular to the edges of the body and engaging the inner portion of the garment pocket and preventing removal of the bill fold from the pocket except when one of the locking end portions is bent upon itself.

3. A billfold safety attachment consisting of a single sheet of polyethylene which is resilient and readily bendable Without fracturing, approximately in thickness and of generally T-shape formation including a body having parallel straight edges slidably and removably arranged in a pocket of a billfold with its edges in parallel relation to the sides of said pocket, and laterally extending locking arms at one end of the body extending a substantial distance on opposite sides of the body from between the folds of the billfold, said body of the attachment having a width of approximately 2%, and a length of approximately 3 /2" while said locking arms have a length of approximately 1%" and a width of approximately 1 /2 each of said locking arms being defined by a straight inner edge perpendicular to the edge of the body and a uniformly curved outer edge extending from the outer end of the locking portion to the end of the body, the locking portions having a flexibility and curvature along their outer edges acting to enable ready insertion of the attachment and billfold into a garment pocket and to permit ready removal of the billfold from a pocket when one looking portion is bent upon itself, and to prevent such removal except when one locking portion is bent.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,580,296 Henderson Dec. 25, 1951 2,604,918 LEsperance et al July 29, 1952 2,864,144 Schick Dec. 16, 1958 at V 

